Q: What is L-1 visa?
A:
The L-1 non-immigrant category, also known as intracompany transfree visa, applies to aliens who
work for a company with a parent, subsidiary, branch, or affiliate in the U.S. These workers come to the
U.S. as intracompany transferees who are coming temporarily to perform services either in a managerial
or executive capacity (L-1A) or which entail specialized knowledge (L-1B) for a parent, branch,
subsidiary or affiliate of the same employer that employed the professional abroad.

Q: Who is qualified to be an L-1 employee?
A:
Qualified L-1 employee must have been employed abroad for the corporation, firm, or other legal
entity (or an affiliate or subsidiary thereof) on a full-time basis for at least one continuous year out of
the last three-year period to qualify.

Q: Is there an annual cap on the number of L-1 visas?
A:
No, unlike H-1B, there is currently no annual cap on L-1 visas.

Q: Does the employer need to file a Labor Condition Application (LCA) in L-1 petitions?
A:
No, unlike H-1B, employer is not required to file LCA in L-1 petitions.

Q: Is employer required to pay L-1 employees prevailing wage?
A:
No, prevailing wage is not required for L-1 beneficiaries, but U.S. income must be sufficient to
prevent the alien from becoming a public charge.

Q: Can L-1 beneficiaries bring their family members to the U.S.?
A:
Yes, immediately family members (i.e. spouses and unmarried children under 21 years of age) of L-1
workers are entitled to L-2 status with the same restrictions as the principal. Dependents may be
students in the U.S. while remaining in L-2 status, however, dependents may not be employed under
the L-2 classification.

Q: What is blanket L petition?
A:
Employers who regularly file L petitions may file for a blanket L petition in order to obtain continuing
approval for itself (and some or all of its parents, branches, subsidiaries and affiliates in the U.S.). This
simplifies the process of approving and admitting additional individual L-1A and L-1B workers.  After
approval of a blanket petition, the petitioner may file for individual employees to enter as L-1
professionals under the blanket petition.
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